Humble Distraction: Part 2
by Hanaellena
Summary: Stiles wakes up on Scott's couch, who tries to take away his pain. But the pain isn't just physical. There's a little bit of Stydia. If this carries on there will be much more. Let me know if I should continue! :)))


Stiles woke with a start, wondering where the pain had gone. And then Scott was there, crouched down beside where he lay on the couch and everything flooded back. Lydia carrying his fractured body for what seemed like hours. The dappled glow of moonlight through the barred windows on the doors, behind which lay everything he didn't want to see. And then her body, motionless, hanging limp in the desperate grasp of his best friend, the boy that he knew would never stop loving her. Never. And he would do anything just to go back to sleep and shut it all out. Bask in the peace of a pain free non-existence.

He glanced down and saw Scott's hand upon his own, black tendrils of hurt seeping from his skin and trailing along his best friends forearm.

"Stop"

He pulled his hand from Scott's grasp and the ache re-entered, harrowing, agonizing, reminding him that this was all so real.

"Let me help you" Scott sounded different. Stiles couldn't define it, but he guessed it had something to do with watching his first love die in his arms. He pulled his hand towards his chest when Scott reached out to grab it again.

"Scott, stop. I told you. No more hurting because of me"

His brother's face was almost emotionless, but just beneath the skin Stiles could see the anger, the grief, the tiredness all taking their toll.

"No one's hurting because of you Stiles" said Scott, obviously frustrated by his stubbornness. "They're hurting because of the Nogitsune. So please let me help you"

Stiles propped himself up against the arm of the chair. With the movement he felt pain across his stomach and he did everything he could to keep it from showing on his face. It felt like there was some sort of wound there, one that was yet to completely heal.

"I don't need help" he said, adamant in his guilt.

"Stiles, I'm not a freaking idiot" Scott's voice wavered a little, his grief surfacing the tiniest amount. "You're being one right now though. I can smell it. You're in pain. Do you have any idea how bad you look?"

Stiles let out a sigh. Maybe he _was_ being an idiot. Maybe Scott needed this. Maybe he needed a distraction. He couldn't save Allison, so he would save Stiles instead, like the freaking hero he'd always been. The strong one. The one that was always saving people. The one that didn't get possessed by a god damn demon fox spirit and go round murdering all his friends.

Knowing it would make him feel mildly better, Stiles offered Scott his hand reluctantly who took it without hesitation. Immediately the intricate black veins reappeared, winding along Scott's fingers and sinking into his skin. The physical pain was instantly lesser, but any other form remained obstinate and immovable clawing his chest and stomach hollow. He didn't really know what to think. The faces of Isaac, Lydia, Argent kept playing out in his mind like an unravelling spool of faulty film. And then there was Allison. The girl none of them would ever see again. And the hollowness seemed to expand and consume him. The sound of Lydia's scream breaking through his unconscious state returned to him like a punch to the gut. It was a scream of death itself. And he couldn't believe he had done that to her. He'd done that to the girl he was supposed to love. He was supposed to have saved her. He was supposed to have been her knight, not her burden.

At that moment the figure in his thoughts materialised as she rushed in. Lydia's now makeup free face was carved with horror as she clutched a phone in her hand, shaking.

Stiles straightened himself as Scott quickly spun around, alerted by the scent of fear and panic.

"I can hear it" she said in a frightened whisper. "I can hear it. They're screaming. There's so many of them. They won't stop. He's at the hospital, I know it. He's hurting people. Scott, we have to do something"

It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room when Stiles and Scott both registered what had been said. He felt Scott's hand tighten to an almost painful extent around his own as claws protruded from his friend's finger tips. He knew why. Melissa. Scott's mum. She was at the hospital. And so was Stiles' dad.

Stiles took back possession of his hand and shot up from the couch ignoring the dizziness that swept in as he did so. Scott stood up with him. They both knew what the other was thinking, what the other was _feeling_. It looked like it was time to sacrifice themselves again. It was almost funny that Stiles had thought he might have five minutes to settle and recover. _Recover._ He didn't know if that was even possible. Not now.

His eyes met Scott's and they shared the same fearful, determined look of understanding.No more loved ones were going to die today. No more loved ones were going to die at all.

It was then that Lydia screamed.


End file.
